Tennis Channel has found its new leader.
Jeff Blackburn, a 24-year veteran of Amazon who most recently served as SVP Global Media & Entertainment for the tech giant before retiring in 2022, will now take over as Chairman and CEO of Tennis Channel, the network announced Wednesday. At Amazon, Blackburn was involved in launching Thursday Night Football on Prime Video.
“Tennis Channel is a sports treasure,” Blackburn said in a press release. “It’s beloved by fans of the game, allowing for large growth opportunities ahead in streaming as well as new initiatives like Pickleball. Since childhood I’ve been intensely passionate about tennis, so am thrilled to take on the role and join this outstanding team.”
Speaking about the move with Sports Business Journal, Blackburn mentioned that he passed up several other opportunities to come out of retirement, but Tennis Channel was the right fit for him to finally take the leap.
“There were many CEO opportunities that came around in the last two years — and I said, by far, this is the job that I wanted,” Blackburn said. “[Tennis Channel] is an absolute jewel, and in the tennis world, it’s also incredibly important.”
Tennis Channel is unique among league and sport-specific networks in that, if you’re a tennis fan, the network is essential for following the sport. Outside of the four Grand Slam events, the network airs every single tournament of consequence across the ATP and WTA.
One initiative that the Sinclair-owned network has taken recently is broadening its accessibility. Tennis Channel recently launched a FAST channel, T2, that frequently airs live matches and doesn’t require a pay TV subscription. They’ve also launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service that allows fans to purchase the flagship network without the need for a pay TV subscription.
“There’s a lot of aspects to the programming of it that Tennis Channel does well, but that creates an opportunity in streaming,” Blackburn told SBJ. “It reminds me a lot of the selection and opportunities that we had to do things differently in streaming at Prime Video in some of our early days. Tennis, the way it’s organized, the amount of hours — it gives you the opportunity to think about the streaming experience and really do things differently.”
Blackburn replaces former CEO Ken Solomon, who was fired by Sinclair last September over his role as an advisor to Dr. Phil.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.